Cassettes are making a slight comeback

[Heel n Toe]

I remember someone here got his son a boombox in the last year or so and was remarking about cassettes. I know I've still got a good many... and play them in the car from time to time, too.

Now it seems they're "in the news" or rather, in the music opinion columns, too...

Cassette tapes are having an unlikely moment

The cheap plastic. The unruly ribbon. Leave them on a car dashboard on a July afternoon and be prepared to come back to a warped, melted mess. To those who can remember loading a Walkman or boom box and taking in the warbled results, the recent reemergence of cassette tapes is a peculiar development. But it is a trend that some saw coming, even before the latest resurrection of vinyl, record players, and all things pre-iPhone.

Though quantifiable figures can be hard to come by — unlike vinyl, which reportedly took in $226 million in the first half of this year, tapes are still a relatively underground endeavor — there’s no denying the format’s increased visibility.

In the past few years alone, it has garnered its own holiday (Cassette Store Day, founded in 2013 by a group of labels hoping to draw attention to the virtues of the format), served as the subject of a feature-length documentary (“Cassette,” which is currently being submitted to various film festivals), and become the musical trend du jour for a slew of indie bands and enthusiasts.

Even major bands have gotten in on the action, with groups like Metallica, the Flaming Lips, and Dinosaur Jr. offering limited-release cassette formats in recent years.

“The interesting thing is they’re being put out by labels and being consumed by people who are not old enough to have had cassettes,” says Jem Aswad, senior editor at Billboard, which tracks the music industry. “So it’s a very confusing phenomenon to me.” More: https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2015/11/27/cassette-tapes-are-having-unlikely-moment/krQpVmYAcSsMFGFJ8d6RUI/story.html



Our Misplaced Nostalgia for Cassette Tapes

Los Angeles — EARLIER this month the Canadian singer Nelly Furtado, who has sold more than 20 million singles worldwide, released an album that almost no one could find, and even fewer could listen to. That’s because the recording, “Hadron Collider,” which she made with the musician Blood Orange, was presented in a format once thought long relegated to the trash heap of tech history: the cassette tape.

Many people over 30 remember cassettes, with nostalgia, if not some disdain. And yet, for a slice of music fandom, Ms. Furtado’s choice of medium makes perfect sense. Cassettes, somehow, are making a comeback.

Go to any indie show and inevitably, among the T-shirts and knickknacks, there will be tapes. Some record labels are now cassette-only. The National Audio Co., America’s largest manufacturer of audiocassettes, reported that 2014 was its best year yet.

But before the revisionists completely rewrite my adolescence, let’s be clear about something: As a format for recorded sound, the cassette tape is a terrible piece of technology. It’s a roll of tape in a box. It’s essentially an office supply.

The cassette is the embodiment of planned obsolescence. Each time you play one it degrades. Bad sound gets worse. Casings crack in winter, melt in summer. Inescapably, a cassette tape unspools: It’s only destiny. Fine, death comes to us all. But just because we can anthropomorphize a gadget doesn’t give it a soul. More: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/24/opinion/our-misplaced-nostalgia-for-cassette-tapes.html?_r=0

[KFC911]

I still have boxes of Maxells that I recorded back in the 70/early 80s that will likely never be played again....state of the art back then and a HUGE improvement over my Pioneer Supertuner 8-track and Jensen triaxials . Gone the way of T-Rex IMO....even my DAT tapes are dinosaurs...magnetic tape is tape...just don't see the appeal...technology marches on...YMMV.

[Don Ro]

I still have some cassettes around...
I'm a vinyl LP man, myself.
With good pressings, the best of fidelity through my Carver Sunfire mono amps & Martin Logan Theos speakers.
.
Not to strip this thread, but I ordered a Fleetwood Mac album that sounds no better than AM radio.
Lots of differences in pressings out there.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Don Ro

I still have some cassettes around...
I'm a vinyl LP man, myself.
With good pressings, the best of fidelity through my Carver Sunfire mono amps & Martin Logan Theos speakers.
.
Not to strip this thread, but I ordered a Fleetwood Mac album that sounds no better than AM radio.
Lots of differences in pressings out there.

I still have a few hundred albums, but thousands of CDs worth of music that were never pressed to vinyl...it's always been about the music and not the technology for me. I'm a BIG Carver fan too (1000K bridged mono), but prefer my vintage Polk SDAs (1.2 & 2.3) over MLs....but it's all good....just different

[Don Ro]

My mono Carvers only make 1,200 wpc @ 2 ohms.
.
I had a set of Apogee Divas years ago...drove them with a couple of horse power.
Looked them up lately, $20,000 refurbished. No way, Jose!
These M/L Theos speakers come close...of course, we all know that our hearing has a memory problem.
.
OK, as you were, boys...back to the topic.
.
PS I like to hear the saliva on the lips of the singers...I'm a sot for excellent fidelity...accurate reproduction, etc.

[unclebilly]

In related news, Apple set to introduce revolutionary external keyboard and storage for IPad:

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Don Ro

My mono Carvers only make 1,200 wpc @ 2 ohms.
.
...

Too much rock 'n roll, etc. has fried my brain cells....I meant 1000, NOT 1000K, but I'm NOT gonna edit my post either...someone might believe it !

[sc_rufctr]

So to the obvious question.

What company is still making cassette players? I can't think of one.
You can still get a decent player second hand but most of those would have to be around 20 years old.

Do they sound as good as a vinyl record? I really can't remember.

[creaturecat]

i still have my old Nakamichi.
: )

[GH85Carrera]

What next 8-Track tapes and Quadraphonic?

Back in the stone ages of 1971 or so I did a ton or research with magazine articles. I actually went to the local library and read back issues of the stereo magazines. I settled on a $1,000 budget for my sound system. I had to show my dad I had that much saved and he co-signed a loan at the bank so I could establish credit. One grand then is the equivalent of $5,860.15 today. I had a killer stereo system.

Back then I settled on 8-track because they flat out sounded much better. A short time later the cassettes were improved and they were better than 8-tracks and sure as heck more reliable.

I still have that gigantic Quadraphonic JVC amp up in my attic. I just could not bring myself to throw it out.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Back in the stone ages of 1971 or so I did a ton or research with magazine articles. I actually went to the local library and read back issues of the stereo magazines. I settled on a $1,000 budget for my sound system. I had to show my dad I had that much saved and he co-signed a loan at the bank so I could establish credit. One grand then is the equivalent of $5,860.15 today. I had a killer stereo system.

I did the same thing, same amount of money in 1977. Yamaha amp, Bose 501 speakers, Technics TT, Pioneer cassette deck.

Still have the amp and a matching tuner I bought later, and they still sound great.

(If anyone wants a Kenwood car cassette deck and a few hand - rolled cassettes let me know. I just replaced my truck unit with Bluetooth. I'm still like a kid at Christmas every time I get in and it plays the songs on my phone that's in my pocket!)

[Baz]

I listen to a cassette every morning - this morning it was Fleetwood Mac. I have suitcases full of them........great stuff!

Oberst, I still have my Kenwood stereo from my TR7 sitting in a box in my garage ready to go. Cassette ready plus a CD player under the seat that holds 5 CD's. With my JL Audio speakers and sub woofer Def Leppard never sounded so good!

[KNS]

I can see it now, people scouring the salvage yards for a vintage Blaupunkt cassette player for their period correct 1978 911SC.

[Rot 911]

Still have my Sansui cassette player and play the occasional cassette. I prefer vinyl.

[Gogar]

The kids love the cassettes, but they haven't figured out how to make the noise come out yet.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I settled on a $1,000 budget for my sound system. I had to show my dad I had that much saved and he co-signed a loan at the bank so I could establish credit. One grand then is the equivalent of $5,860.15 today. I had a killer stereo system.

Glad I was more of a Porschephile than an audiophile. Porsche values have held up better than 8-tracks.

[herr_oberst]

I had one of these in my car during high school...I gave it away when I got something better.

Wish I still had it.....

[imcarthur]

Tape? Really? The joy of tape is that every time you play one, you lose some oxide from the tape. And this same oxide wears your tape head a teeny tiny bit like mild sandpaper. Good luck getting a replacement head – so clean your tape head religiously with a Q-tip & some Isopropyl alcohol. While a similar reaction occurs with the vinyl LP & cartridge needle, it is not as severe. The tape format starts off with some high frequency loss which is why Dolby et al had equalizing circuits on many tape machines to compensate.

In the professional world, master tape degradation is taking a serious toll on archives. As they age, tape gets brittle requiring frequent splicing & the adhesives that bound the oxide degrades & you are left with a pile of brown powder every time you play it. The solution: bake the tape. Literally baking it in an oven which temporarily binds the oxide giving the mastering studio one more shot at it. After one play, it is garbage. They typically will make both an analogue (another tape) & a digital copy for posterity.

Ian

[Nostril Cheese]

Good lord, NO.

Why does anyone want to go back to those? Remember how frustrating it was to record something off the radio, then the idiot DJ would talk over the end of the song.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by creaturecat

i still have my old Nakamichi.
: )

So do I. You might want to keep this info handy if yours needs service. He works only on Nakamichi. Did a great job on mine.

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